This is how the Story Ends
by BellaRina girl
Summary: In a far away kingdom, Lady Bella Swan lives with her not-much-of-a mother and her scheming step-father. On her 17th birthday she's told that she must marry one of three boys from rich families, but she doesn't want to. How will this story end? RESTARTIN
1. Chapter 1

**This is how the Story Ends…**

_**Authors' Note:**_

_First off, this is a joint project by_ **BellaRina Girl**_ and her co-author _**Jax Creation**_ (_/u/1450575/)_.  
You could think of it being a Jackabelle Creation (inside joke, funny to us, maybe not to you.)_

**This is how the Story Ends**_ (_'Story's End'_ for short) is set in an alternate universe to the book and movie and in this universe there are no such things as vampires - dragons and witches perhaps, but no vampires... at least we don't have any of them planned, yet. Before you ask, of course there is cringeworthy, lemony romance (Jax finds all romance cringeworthy - yet she writes it... stupid) but there's also humor, drama and all sorts of other things thrown into the mix! So please read on and, if you have time, leave us a review!_

_N.B. Bella receives and replies to all reviews on behalf of both Jax and herself. If you have a particular question for or want an comment from Jax, please mention it in your review so that Bella can forward it to her and then send back the reply.  
_

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**P R O L O G U E**

It was raining.

Charlie Swan grumbled to himself as his right leg, still slow and stiff from his days as a captain in the royal army, throbbed, as it always did when bad weather descended on the kingdom. The hour was later than Charlie would have liked. Usually he would be tucked up in bed but tonight he had reason to stay awake; the messenger from Lord Carlisle had arrived only an hour ago to inform Charlie that a 'Lady Isabella Swan' was in a carriage and on her way to his house.

The former captain lurched to his feet as a carriage bearing the coat-of-arms of Duke Phillip of Dwyer halted outside his shack and hurried to open the door for his skin-soaked daughter. He looked over, feeling as if he were looking at a stranger; she had changed so much since he'd last seen her, ten years ago. Bella was no longer the small, tomboyish little girl who'd always refused to act a lady; her hair, which had once been red, was chestnut brown and she'd let it grow down to her waist; she was a lot paler and bit thinner than he remembered and her gown, through now torn and dirtied was made of material that Charlie would never have been able to afford. A sardonic smile inched onto his features, so Renee had found the rich man she'd always wanted, it quickly disappeared as Charlie cast the bitter thought aside and forced himself to look into Bella's tear-streaked face.

"Long time no see, Belles," he said quietly, his voice cracking slightly with overwhelming emotion.

Bella's lower lip trembled, then she crumbled and threw herself at her father. "Dad..." she whispered, her eyes welling up, "It's you… it's really…"

Charlie reached out and hugged her, almost breaking down into tears himself; it was the first fatherly act he'd be able to make in ten years. He soothed her until the tears stopped. "It's alright, Belles," he told her. "Why don't you sit down?"

In a broken manner, she did as she was told while Charlie limped into his tiny kitchen and fixed tea for them both, adding a few herbs into his cup to relieve the pain in his leg.

"Here you go."

Bella stared blankly at the liquid in the cheap china on the table in front of her.

"Drink," Charlie ordered, slipping momentarily into soldier mode. "It'll make you feel better," he added in a softer tone.

Wordlessly she obeyed.

Charlie sat down beside her and sipped his own tea, feeling the ache in his leg ease slightly and wondering what he ought to say or do to comfort Bella.

"Dad," she mumbled suddenly, causing Charlie to jerk and spill the drink onto his nightshirt. "Will you tell me a story?"

For a moment Charlie felt as if time had gone backwards and he was sitting with a five-year-old Bella just before bedtime. He smiled gently realising that this could be his opportunity to help her, to show her that she made the right choices throughout this last year and that it wasn't all over just yet.

And so, he began…

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**C H A P T E R O N E**

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away there was a young lady, her name was Isabella Swan - though she preferred to be called Bella because to her, Isabella was far too formal. Her father disappeared during a civil war that ended when the throne was usurped by the tyrant, King Archibald of Dwyer and the true royal family disappeared. Bella's mother remarried five years later to Duke Phillip of Dwyer, the cousin of the evil king and Bella soon became one of the most adorned ornaments of the royal court. However the true story begins on the day of Lady Isabella's seventeenth birthday…

"Miss Bella, may I come in?"

Bella covered her head with a pillow, pretending to be asleep as her maid; a petite young woman with short, spiky black hair by the name of Alice bustled around the room, carefully folding gowns and nightdresses into a rather large trunk to be taken to the Palace for their weekend stay at the Palace where Bella's seventeenth birthday celebrations would be held. The maid was dressed in the typical navy blue shift and white apron of the Dwyer servants. Finished with the packing, she glanced at the lump on the bed and sighed, then giggled and yanked away the bed sheets. "Miss, you can't fool me, if you don't get out of bed I shall have to _make_ you do so. Plus, you're too old to be taking naps in the afternoon."

"Oh dear God," groaned Bella, sitting up and rolling out of bed in a most unladylike fashion. "I don't want to go…"

"Miss Bella, you _have _to go, the celebration is for you, after all. A party at the palace, what I wouldn't give to be a part of it!" said Alice cheerfully. "Look, you've even got a new dress to wear for the occasion!"

Bella eyed the box that Alice had set on the bed warily. "Throw it away," she ordered.

Alice laughed and opened the box, knowing full well that Bella wouldn't touch it. "Milady, it's a just a dress," she said, "You'd think from the expression on your face that I was trying to force feed you poison. Now if I owned such extravagancy I would so happy I could die. Now suck in whilst I do up your corset."

"If I could, I would be more than happy to trade places with you," Bella muttered and winced as Alice apologised and yanked hard on the laces of her bodice, "And you're welcome to any of the _extravagancy _I own. There's a good lot of it that I have never touched and don't plan on touching any time soon."

The maid sighed and carefully smoothed out Bella's skirts. "You're so ungrateful, milady," she commented. "Many young women would _kill_ to be in your position. You've got wealth, power, status…" Alice sighed. "Consider yourself lucky to be of the upper class and not one of us lowly common folk, Miss Bella."

"Yeah… lucky…" repeated Bella dully and obediently sat down so that Alice could arrange her hair.

"Well you are, after all _you_ will not have to _catch_ a husband like the rest of us!" said Alice as she carefully pinned the last long lock of hair into place. Then she grinned and added cheekily, "The men will have to catch you."

Bella flushed indignantly and made for the door without saying anything in response. Most other ladies would have reprimanded the maid and given her a good slap for showing such cheek but Alice was more than just her maid, she was her friend – the only real friend she had in this world of politics and greed.

"You look beautiful, Miss Bella," sighed Alice as she trailed behind.

"Sure…" muttered Bella focusing on walking down the stairs without tripping over the hem of her skirts.

"Really, Miss," insisted Alice, grabbing her shoulder and bringing her to a stop in front of a mirror. "See for yourself."

Bella sighed and examined her reflection; the gown, however much she hated it, was a truly stunning affair of violet material and silver embroidery offset with tiny, numerous diamonds that glinted in the evening sunlight, pouring through the windows. Alice had pinned her long sheet mahogany brown hair within an inch of its life and fastened a near-invisible net decorated with dozen of miniscule diamonds over the lot. It was true, Alice's efforts had truly paid off, she looked lovely with the dress and the diamonds but that was the problem; ten years ago she wouldn't have owned anything of the sort; money and displays of it, like the ensemble she wore now, she loathed them. She turned to Alice and scowled as the full skirts and numerous under-skirts swished around her new shoes and the diamonds in her hair and on her dress threw lights onto the walls.

"See, you look absolutely breathtaking," said Alice cheerfully not at all fazed by her mistress's murderous expression; she understood the reason behind it. "I've done a wonderful job. All the strapping young men at your birthday celebrations will be falling in line to dance with you. How I wish I could see it; everyone falling over because you're so clumsy!"

Bella turned red, her foul mood forgotten. "I am not clumsy!" she spluttered.

Alice giggled. "Tell that to the poor souls you're going to trip over when you attempt to dance."

Bella gave up; there was no winning when Alice was your opponent. Wordlessly she continued down the hall while Alice chuckled to herself at the thought of her mistress trying to dance. Bella paused at the impressive double doors, opening them a crack to see if her mother and step-father were outside waiting for her. She grinned at Alice when she discovered that the coast was clear. "Do you think we could run–"

"Of course not, Miss!" said Alice, appalled that she could even _think_ of doing such a thing. "How is it that I am more excited than you are about this? It's your seventeen birthday, Miss Bella, your last year of freedom and the year you, as a noblewoman, are expected to find a husband!"

"But –"

"No buts, Miss Bella, you are going to your party. There will be no running away permitted," said Alice firmly, grabbing her mistress by the arm and dragging away from the door so that she wouldn't be tempted to even try. "This party will be good for you! Maybe some dashing unsuspecting foreign prince will dance with you, fall in love and then whisk you away to a beautiful castle on a hill where you-and your ever-so-loving maid will live happily ever after!"

Bella stared at her blankly. "Yes, and my horse will grow wings and pull the marriage carriage," she said sarcastically.

"Well you never know," replied Alice, always the optimist. "The other reason I think you shouldn't try it is because you'll fall down and ruin your magnificent ball gown and we can't have that now, can we?"

"I am not _that_ clumsy," glowered Bella.

"Don't lie, Miss Bella, it's unbecoming. The world knows that you can't walk ten steps without tripping yourself."

Bella inhaled to retort loudly and defend herself but quickly swallowed her words as her mother entered the hallway accompanied by the "Great" Duke Phillip of Dwyer, Bella's arrogant, egotistic and utterly irritating step-father. Alice swept into a curtsey and Bella burst into a coughing fit after she choked on her breath as Their Graces approached, flanked by Her Grace's three ladies-in-waiting and the half-a-dozen ever-present, and completely useless guards.

"Daughter, that dress really does compliment you," said Duchess Renee of Dwyer with smile. Ever since she'd married the Duke, she'd referred to Bella as 'daughter' rather than calling her by name. Bella hated it; it was like being called 'Step-Daughter' by the Duke though he only did it because he actually didn't know her name.

Bella pasted a smile onto her face, unsure if the comment was intended as a compliment or an insult – her mother no longer seemed to know the difference between the two. "Why thank you Your Grace," she replied without bothering to acknowledge her step-father. This was her small revenge; so long as Renee referred to her as 'Daughter' instead of 'Bella' she would refer to her not as 'mother' but as 'Her/Your Grace'.

"Happy birthday, Step-Daughter," said the Duke, staring over her head rather than looking at her face.

"Thank you, Your Grace."

Silence resounded in the room. Alice tried to make herself shrink as the tension grew. The other servants in the room – and the ladies-in-waiting, who technically weren't servants, also stepped away.

"Shall we go then?" asked Renee somewhat reluctantly, though she was still forcing a smile, one so wide that it looked as if her face was going to crack if she kept it up for much longer.

"Indeed," agreed the Duke.

"Hmm…" said Bella wishing that Alice had let her run away before.

Silence reigned once again as the doormen, who had been standing outside listening to the conversation, opened the doors and four of the Dwyer family carriages drew up in front of the house; one for Their Graces, one for Bella and Alice – who would remain in the servants' room for the duration of the ball, one for the ladies-in-waiting, who refused to be lumped in with the commoners, and one for the additional servants.

Bella watched her mother and step-father climb into their carriage and considered bribing the driver of her carriage to take her somewhere else.

"Don't even think about it," mouthed Alice.

Bella scowled. Why was it that her maid always knew what she was thinking? "Think about what, Alice?" she asked, pretending that she didn't know what the maid was talking about.

"You are not running away from your birthday party and if you do, I refuse to be dragged along with you," said Alice sternly. "I can read you like an open book, Miss Bella."

A tall, slight youth standing beside their carriage, presumably a footman or some other servant of the estate chuckled to himself. The two young women turned to stare at him. He grinned widely, his bright green eyes twinkling and spread his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Ladies," he said, inclining his head and motioning towards the open carriage door, "I believe it's time to leave."

Speechless, Bella stepped up into the carriage and sat down. Alice did likewise. They glanced at the door as the green-eyed footmen shut it then at each other as the carriage began to move.

Then Alice's lips twitched upwards and she started to laugh. "Oh your face, you should have seen your face when he started to laugh!" she cried, her shoulders shaking with mirth. "Priceless, absolutely priceless!"

Bella blushed and retorted, "Well you have no right to laugh! You were surprised by his reaction too! It's just – that's the first time someone has acted like you and laughed at me."

"Us," corrected Alice, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "He was laughing at us. I do hope that he'll be in the servants' quarters during the party. I'll have someone interesting to talk and spread rumours about you to."

"Alice!" exclaimed Bella indignantly.

"Maybe I can convince him to pretend to be my escort and sneak into the ball with me so that I can watch you trip your dance partners…"

"_Alice…_" repeated Bella warningly.

The maid grinned evilly, "Oh I'm sorry, milady, I forgot that you were there."

"Alice you –"

Bella had never been more relieved to leave a carriage than that day.

The horses stopped and the door swung open. The green-eyed boy, who had laughed before, winked cheerfully at her and offered his hand. She accepted it and stepped down with a murmured, "Thank you." Safely on the ground, Bella turned around and shut the carriage door in her maid's face.

Another chuckle escaped the youth's lips.

Bella glanced at him and raised her eyebrows.

He beamed innocently down at her. "My apologies, Lady Swan," he said. "Shall I tell the driver to drop her off in the middle of town?"

Bella's lips twitched into a small smile. "No, that will not be necessary," she said in the fakest, loftiest voice she could manage.

His grin grew wider. "Very good, Lady Swan," he said with a courteous bow.

Bella blinked at him. "You just called me Lady Swan," she said quietly. "How did you know that I'm not a Dwy– "

They both looked towards the carriage as the door flew open and Alice flounced out, rushing over to her mistress to give her a good scolding. "Miss Bella, you ought to know better than to shut the door in another lady's face!"

The footman was laughing again. Even Bella found herself smiling broadly at Alice's sulky expression as the maid continued her spiel on childish behavior and good etiquette.

The three of them abruptly fell silent as the Duchess's voice rang loud and clear through the air. "Daughter!"

"That would be me," muttered Bella irritably. She sighed and turned to her maid. "Am I still not permitted to run away?"

The footman grinned while Alice said warning, "Miss _Bella_…"

"I guess not…" murmured Bella, feeling more than a little disappointed.

Resignedly she began to trudge down the paved Palace roads, through an archway and into a large, open pavilion where the Duke and Duchess and three young men Bella had never seen before in her life waited for her. She glanced over the boys, wracking her memory for anything about any of them The first was short, blonde and nervous looking, his clothes looked a little big on him and his Adam's apple bobbed and he nervously swallowed time and time again; the second was _tall_, dark-haired and extremely well-built, he looked uncomfortable in the stiff, formal clothes he wore – or maybe he was just uncomfortable being there, Bella thought that it was likely to be a mixture of both – the young man would have looked more in place on a battlefield or the training grounds than her birthday ball; and the third was an obvious foreigner, he looked to be a fair bit younger than the other two but he was just as tall as the youth in the middle, the expression on his face was one of obvious boredom – he wasn't even trying to hide it.

Bella ogled them, wondering why they were there, her intuition tingling. Then, out of nowhere, Alice's word's echoed in her mind, _It's your seventeen birthday, Miss Bella, your last year of freedom and the year you, as a noblewoman, are expected to find a husband!_

Seventeen… _last year of freedom_.

Three boys… _expected to find a husband_.

Bella froze; her mouth dropping open as all thoughts of being polite and distant flew out of her mind, turned to Renee and said, "Mama, you're not serious."


	2. Chapter 2

**C H A P T E R T W O**

If he was fazed or embarrassed by his step-daughter's sudden outburst of horror, Duke Phillip didn't show it, unlike Renee and the three young men who were staring at Bella with expressions that ranged from shock to amusement. He cleared his throat and all eyes turned on him.

"Step-daughter, I would like to introduce you to the sons of some political friends of mine," said the Duke meaningfully.

Bella's eyes zoomed in on the expensive clothes and flashes on jewellery and scowled; political friends meant 'rich and powerful'. No wonder these three had been chosen as potential suitors. Her scowl grew darker. Didn't anyone care what she thought?

The Duke didn't seem to notice the dark expression that seemed to be carved into the young woman's visage and continued on with his introductions, "Step-daughter, this is Lord Jacob. He is the son of the Quileute Ambassador; they arrived at the Palace not three days ago. I hope that you will be able to find the time to show him around the Palace whilst we are here."

Jacob bowed politely, though the expression of boredom had yet to be wiped off his face. Bella fought the urge to smile; maybe it had been permanently etched in there.

"Lady Dwyer," he said by means of greeting.

"Swan; Lady Isabella Swan, not Isabella of Dwyer," she corrected him through gritted teeth as she curtseyed in return, her mother and the Duke probably hadn't even bothered to mention her by name when introducing themselves to the youths but judging from the smirk that had momentarily flickered over his lips he had already known that the Duke was her step-father. She groaned silently, this man – no this _lad_ as he ought to be properly called seeing as how he looked to be several years younger than her other two options – was one of the egotistic, upper class pains in the backside who believed themselves to be God's gift to women.

She took this as a moment to look him over properly. She would have known him to be a Quileute without the Duke's introduction by his dark skin and even darker hair. His clothes however, were of the design of this Kingdom. Apparently he had abandoned his traditional wear for her birthday celebration.

"My apologies."

Bella came very close to letting out a derisive snort. The boy was anything _but_ apologetic.

She looked expectantly at the next suitor.

"Step-daughter, this is Sir Emmett; he is a knight of our Kingdom. He is the youngest knight in our country in half a century," said the Duke sounding somewhat, yet inexplicably proud of the youth.

This was the youth Bella had pinned to be a warrior. He had curly dark-brown hair and the necessary muscle for a knight; his face looked familiar to her. She had probably seen him before during one of her visits to court. He smiled, almost shyly and bowed. Bella returned the courtesy and the smile. He seemed genuinely pleased to meet her.

"Lady Swan."

"Good sir."

The Duke cleared his throat again. "And finally I would like to introduce you to _Prince_ Jasper of Whitlock, son of Carlisle, King of the Kingdom to the North."

Bella narrowed her eyes at her step-father then forced a smile onto her face as she curtseyed to the blonde youth. Judging from the stress he had laid on the man's title, the Prince of Whitlock was the man they were hoping she would engage in wedlock.

The prince swallowed nervously and bowed clumsily. Bella fought to hide a smile as he stumbled.

"L-L-Lady Sw-Swan," he stammered, "A-a pleasure to m-meet you."

Prince Jasper was short, barely a centimetre taller than Bella herself. He had light blue eyes and a round, slightly flushed baby-face. It was very cute, the way he stammered and stumbled. He was nothing like the prince of her Kingdom. Ugh, the very thought of Prince Hector make her want to throw up.

"It is a pleasure to meet you too, Your Highness," replied Bella sweeping out a third curtsey. She couldn't stop her eyebrows from rising in interest as the prince flinched at the mention of his title.

The Duchess took this as her cue to address her daughter. "Daughter, we hope that you will _befriend_ our guests over the course of the next three days. Perhaps one day your friendship will become something more."

Bella blanched visibly at the last sentence. She had been polite and allowed her not-much-of-a mother and arrogant step-father to introduce her to the young men but she wasn't going to stand around and listen to the marriage talk.

She turned to the youths and swept out the finest curtsey she could manage. "My greatest apologies for this rather large misunderstanding, but I do not intend on marrying any one of you," she told them politely and truthfully. "I bid you a good day and hope you enjoy the festivities." Satisfied that she had been polite in her rejection and had gotten the message across she smiled cheerfully and walked off towards the great wooden doors of the Palace.

Duchess Renee's face had turned a terrible shade of scarlet, she laughed and attempted to pass off Bella's proclamation as a joke, "Oh, my Daughter is quite the trickster. She is very interested in marriage, rest assured."

The red hue progressively darkened as she chased after Bella screaming, "Daughter, get back here!"

The Duke and three youths watched as Renee ran off.

Phillip smiled thinly and clapped his hands together, "Now that the women are gone, shall we get down to business, lads? My Step-Daughter may be quite headstrong at some times, but I'm sure that that personality flaw can be easily fixed; her mother used to be the same way, but headstrong or not, one of you will marry her after all it is in your best interests to do so. After all, marriage between the Dwyer family and any of your families will be very advantageous. This is what your fathers and I have agreed upon."

Bella knew that her mother would chase her and demand that she take back what she had said, so she ran through the maze of corridors until she could run no more.

She groaned; her feet were killing her. The new shoes were stiff and pinched her heels; there would be blisters on the balls of her feet tomorrow.

"Isabella?"

She yelped as someone unexpectedly tapped her on the shoulder from behind. She whirled around, expecting to find herself face to face with her mother and was extremely relieved though extremely horrified at the same time as she found herself eye to eye with the very round and chubby Prince Hector; as the son of King Archibald, the Duke's brother, he was by law her step-cousin but that didn't stop him from ogling her at every possible moment. The man was a pig.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to startle you," said Hector, his hazel eyes gleeful on his fat face and his flabby lips turned upwards in a smile.

Hector was the one person Bella didn't bother to act polite towards. "Oh, what do you want?" she snapped irritably crossing her arms over her bodice and scowling even more darkly as her cousin's eyes followed the movement. With a start she realised that the action had pulled the low neckline down even further, quickly she put her arms down.

"You shouldn't be wandering around the Palace unescorted, dear Cousin," said Hector, his focus still on Bella's chest.

"We've been over this, Hector; I don't like you and you don't like me, didn't we already agree not to bother one another?"

"Actually Isabella, I actually quite enjoy your company. Shall I escort you to the ballroom?"

Bella glowered; he was talking to her collarbones. "I'm sure it's my _company_ you enjoy," she replied sarcastically. Hector quickly raised his sightline. "I don't need an escort, now go away."

He didn't move, his eyes slowly moving back downwards.

The girl forced his chin back up with a single finger and hissed, "I already have to sit with you whilst dinner is served, so for the meantime could you please remain out of my sight?"

The prince frowned. "Really, Cousin, why must you always be so cold?"

Bella didn't bother to reply. Instead she turned heel and stomped off in direction of the palace stables.

The soothing combination of hay and horses cured her of her irritation instantly as she cracked open the heavy wooden door. Breathing deeply she stepped inside carefully, closing the door and leaning against it, letting it act as a barrier between her and the outside world. The palace guests would have already begun to arrive though the official celebrations wouldn't be able to proceed without her present.

Sighing heavily she continued in, gently brushing her hands through the manes of several heads that leaned curiously out of their stalls. Stopping at the door of a particular feisty roan filly Bella reached a hand in and ran it down the horse's dish-shaped face, up her velvet tipped ears and along her neck. A gentle smile entered her features as her worries began to fade.

"What are you doing here?" asked a voice from behind.

Bella gasped aloud and turned sharply. Squinting through the darkness she could barely make out the silhouette of the man standing there, tall and lithe he moved silently in the hushed stables.

"J-just talking to the horses," she lied weakly. "They calm me."

Hopefully he wouldn't tell her to be on her way. She still didn't feel up to an encounter with her mother, step-father or any of the three chosen men. The roan whickered and she returned her attention back to her.

The stranger grinned, his teeth flashing white in the gloom of the stalls. "Me too," he said.

Bella turned her head when his hand briefly touched hers as he walked up to the horse, who greeted him enthusiastically reaching over the half door, nosing around his clothes.

"Sorry Flicka, all your treats are in my other jacket," he said, running his large hand down her forehead and covered her nose with his hand, blowing gently. He glanced over his shoulder at Bella. "So, milady, was that grand party of yours so bad that you had to desert it before it had even started?"

Bella didn't question how he knew about her party – or how he knew who she was. Most people at the Palace had seen her at least once or twice and she was the King's niece, even if it was only through her mother's marriage.

"It is when you are being set-up with three stuffy noblemen, each convinced he is more important than the last," she said quietly and bitterly. "Besides, sometimes I find horses much better company than most humans, they never insult or snub you, but they listen and give you comfort." She paused abruptly, what was she _doing_? These were her most private thoughts and feelings and she was revealing them to a servant.

"She likes you," observed the stableboy, breaking the sudden silence.

Flicka agreed whinnied in agreement and gently nuzzled the young noblewoman, her huge liquid black eyes wide and earnest.

Bella giggled as the horse's nose tickled her ear. "Is she in your care?" she asked the unnamed young man beside her without looking away from the horse.

"Unfortunately no; Flicka here is used for training pages with little riding experience."

Regret coated his tongue. Bella knew how he felt, some of the youngsters who applied for knighthood could be very rough with their mounts particularly those whom were inexperienced in riding. She looked at the servant properly for the first time.

"Oh!" The exclamation burst unbidden from her lips as she recognised the handsome footman with the green eyes that flashed and glittered. "I'm sorry, I didn't realise," She froze uncertainly. "I have to go!"

Cheeks burning she made for a hasty exit but ruined the effect by tripping on a coil of rope laying by the door. Squeezing her eyes shut tight she waited for the inevitable fall, imagining what her mother would say when she came back filthy, though it may turn away the suitors. Still waiting for the crash she opened her eyes, curious as to why she wasn't face first in the dirt, to find herself in the arms of the servant boy. He grinned at her red face and pulled her upright, still safely encircled in his muscular arms.

She brushed out the creases in her skirt and murmured a word of thanks, "Thank you."

"Thank you, Edward," corrected the servant.

Bella blinked, unused to being corrected by anyone let alone a footman. She opened and closed her mouth several times, waiting for a sound to come out as Edward's crooked smile grew wider.

"Daughter! I know you're in there, come out here this instant!"

Servant and noblewoman jumped as Duchess Renee's shrill voice cut through the calm night air like a knife through butter and angry footsteps echoed outside the stables.

"Good night, and a happy birthday, Lady Swan."

Before she could protest against the formal name or ask him once again how he knew to call her 'Lady Swan', he had melted back into the darkness and she was left standing there with her mouth open feeling a little like an idiot.

"_DAUGHTER!_"

"Coming," Bella muttered under her breath, hesitating before leaving the one sanctuary she had in the cold stone palace.

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**Please review. We promise to reply!**

**~Jax and Bella**


	3. Chapter 3

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C H A P T E R T H R E E

After the verbal lashing her mother had deemed necessary after her performance with the three suitors whom she would never, _ever_ marry, Bella finally managed to convince her mother to let go of her arm and let her enter the ball by herself. Deciding against an announcement of her arrival (despite that she was the guest of honour) she attempted to slip inconspicuously into the ballroom. It seemed simple enough, and proved to be so, but once inside the grand, crowded hall, it was harder to stay invisible. Managing to avoid most glances she moved through the crowd carefully and over to a secluded corner; she resigned to wait out the rest of the night sitting on the window seat.

"Oh Lady Isabella! What an incredible party!"

The voice interrupted her daydreams was girlish and prim making Bella reconsidered her previous thought-anywhere but here, and anywhere where this girl was not.

She knew the young woman vaguely from her step-fathers attempt to socialize her was standing near her. Stuck for a name she distinctly remembered her as a lesser noble but an annoying social climber and had taken an intense dislike to the girl; though couldn't help but feel slightly superior when she noticed the gown she wore. The blonde looked as if she had had a disagreement with her seamstress, and the woman had used the ball gown as payback. The dress was an apricot colour with an unusually circular skirt, giving the impression of a large overly ripe peach with a big talking stem. Each time she move her hands, long dangly pieces of lace hanging from her draping sleeves would wave around hypnotically. The whole ensemble was quite a sight and Bella was soon staring fixedly at the outrageous dress.

"..Don't you think?" the question had been directed at her.

"Wh-oh umm, yes quite extravagant," blurted out Bella, her thoughts still lingering on the ridiculousness of the young woman's gown, "I apologise but I hear someone calling me and must dash, but do enjoy the party!" she said quickly but politely so that she could be away from the from the prattling girl and succumb to the irrepressible urge to laugh.

Feeling slightly better about the situation, Bella made her way to the table of honour to accept a drink from one of the serving boys and scanned the large room. To her utmost horror she was alarmed to see the tall wolf-like figure of the smug, Quileute boy, Jacob expertly weaving his way through the crowd in her direction. She groaned and the young page stationed at the table gave her an inquisitive look, she waved him away and got out of her seat. Pretending that she hadn't seen Jacob approaching she fled into the crowd.

'Ahh, the Lady Isabella appears!"

Bella yelped as she walked into the muscled torso of Sir Emmett.

"Oh God," she muttered in audibly.

"You're a hard girl to find, did you know?" continued the knight, oblivious to her quiet remark.

"Yes, I pride myself on it and with all the lunatic suitors that are following me it's becoming rather handy," Bella replied dryly.

Her sharp reply was received with a booming laugh, drawing looks their way.

"A fighter, oh fun!" said Emmett, looking like a three year old at a carnival.

He grinned brightly and contagiously; Bella found herself smiling involuntarily though she wiped it away quickly.

_I need to get away from this idiot,_ she thought to herself.

"Oh Sir Emmett, from all this commotion i find myself parched! Could you be ever so kind as to get me a drink?" she said, fluttering her eyelashes and feeling absolutely ridiculous.

Surprisingly, the ploy worked and Emmett moved off, happy to have caught the attention of his pursuit. When his huge form had been swallowed by the crowd she moved off again, unwilling to be caught by yet another man lusting after her dowry and was pleased to see that both her cousin and the other prince who had been selected as a suitor were no where in sight. Hoping for a quick escape she moved off towards the doors.

She had no such luck.

"Ah, there you are!" cried a youthful, honeyed voice.

She froze mid-step, one foot still lifted.

Jacob.

"Dance with me," he said. It wasn't a question.

_Irritating, superior fool,_ thought Bella as he grabbed her hands and began to twirl her around. Hastily she snatched her fingers away. "Oh, I'm very sorry Lord Jacob but I have already promised this dance to someone else."

His face resumed the scowl that had been present when she'd first met him. "You're just making excuses," he accused.

She opened her mouth to deny it when another male voice joined in.

"Lady Isabella, I have brought your beverage!"

_Emmett,_ she realised, _Great, just great…_

The Quileute envoy rounded on the knight. "The girl's dancing with me," he snarled.

As the two young men argued with one another Bella silently made her escape. She found herself a nook in one of the corridors and sank to the ground, exhausted.

"This is just ridiculous…" she grumbled to herself. "If it weren't for that stupid mother and stupid step-father of mine I wouldn't have those stupid men climbing all over me to get my attention."

Someone further down the passage laughed. Bella froze, she hadn't realised that she was not alone. It was a servant, tall, muscular and bearing the ensign of the Northern Kingdom on his lapel. Mentally she berated herself; what would Prince Jasper have to say about her comment when his servant informed him of her callous remark?

The servant grinned broadly at her. "Not to worry, milady; Prince Jasper wouldn't mind what you said," he assured her, running his fingers through his blonde hair, "Actually the Prince has no intention of playing this game. He's not really interested in wedding you, no offence meant."

Bella smiled back at him, "None taken."

He looked surprised. "Is that so? Most ladies would be horrified to hear that men were not attracted to them."

"Well, seeing as I just ran from two of them, I have to admit that I'm not like most ladies."

"Indeed you're not," he agreed thoughtfully. "Well then," he said brightly, "I'll be off. I'm something rather important to talk to Mi – err – my lord about. Enjoy escaping from your suitors, milady!"

Bella laughed then felt a little irritated; why was it that all the nice men were servants? She pondered the thought as she walked out into the main garden.

Before she knew it, she was standing outside the stables again. Without a moment's hesitation she pushed the door open and went inside.

"Have you decided to skip the party, Lady Swan?"

She smiled sheepishly at Edward as he stepped out of the shadows with a crooked grin across his own features.

"I think it was more of an escape," Bella mumbled.

The manservant chuckled, his green eyes dancing. "I'm guessing that dancing and rubbing shoulders with the other nobility isn't really your kind of thing?"

"Not at all," agreed Bella and then added, "Particularly the dancing."

His eyebrows lifted in mock-astonishment. "Not particularly co-ordinated are you, Lady Swan?"

Bella blushed; he'd hit the nail on the head.

"Well," he continued, "I'd rather like to find out for myself."

He bowed smoothly and offered her his hand. "Lady Swan, would you like to dance?"

* * *

**Hi! sorry we haven't updated in so long, Jax was on holidays and emailing back and forth overseas was harder than expected =]**

**please review, we will reply and all questions and comments are welcome!**

**~Jax and Bella**


	4. What Happens next?

Heyy!

So yeah, this isn't an update, I'm sorry!

Jax and I have been working on stories end, almost constantly for months now, but never got it just right- so we've restarted =]

Changing the characters and adding so much more to the original plot, we've both become much better writers since we started this story, and even though we love it, and the original plot will continue- there is so much more to it now.

We've turned it into an original story and have put it up on fictionpress, on jax's account (/ u / 660102 / Jax_Creation) and it's now called, "Of Rogues and Princes" the link will be below.

We'd both really appreciate if you go and read it, only the prologue is up at the moment but there will be more to come! I promise!

So yeah! Thanks so much to everyone for reading and those who reviewed, and we are thankful to each and every person that found Story's End, it still exists! It's just got a makeover! XD

Please read our new story!

With love,  
Jax and Bella

http:/ www (dot) fictionpress (dot) com/s/2909499/1/Of_Rogues_and_Princes


	5. Of Rogues and Princes chapter one

Hi!

so! our new story, "of Rogues and Princes", is finally moving past its prologue!

we officially have a chapter up! now we thought we link the chapters here, so that anyone who's read Story's End and might want to see whats happened can have easy access without necessarily making an account- though i would recommend doing so, much easier!-

here we go, getting to the good stuff; Of Rogues and Princes, chapter 1.

.com/s/2909499/2/Of_Rogues_and_Princes

we would really love for some feedback! i think Jax accepts anonymous reviews, but if she doesnt, feel free to send either of us a PM or even comment here!

thankyou!


	6. Please Read!

Hey everyone!

another chapter is up!

i'm not sure if anyone is looking at it, but i thought i would post this anyway. as always, Jax and i really appreciate any comments or ideas, we are constantly trying to improve our writing and would love some feedback from you guys!

this is only chapter two, but we have big plans for this story so please, please take a couple minutes to read it!

with love,

Bella and Jax

.com/s/2909499/3/Of_Rogues_and_Princes


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